Freedom of the Seas 06/30/18 - 07/07/18 Semi-live review

Hello Everyone and welcome to this semi-live review. We are very excited to share our cruise experience with all of you.

This is our second cruise, our first one was the Adventure of the Seas 2 years ago. While last time we were celebrating our first wedding anniversary and went by ourselves, this time we have 9 other family members joining (2 of them are not expected and will surprise the rest on departure day). My wife and I will be traveling from Washington, DC, while the rest of the family (in-laws, uncles/aunts, cousins) will be traveling from Santo Domingo. Dominican Republic.

Please feel free to ask any questions along the way. I will also try to upload cruise compasses and dining menus.

I will also be posting live pictures/videos on my instagram account (same username as here in CruiseCritic).

Cruise Planning

Originally, we were planning a cruise with our in-laws for the week before easter. However, we waited too long to start planning and the time was short, so we decided to postpone the cruise until the summer. Last time the itinerary was St. Marteen, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, so we chose another port-intensive itinerary, especially because we were always interested to travel to Aruba and Curaçao.

Once we selected the itinerary, we booked the cruise for the in-laws and ourselves. My uncle, aunt, and cousin decided to join us as well, so we had the hard task to find a balcony for 3, and then my wife's aunt and cousin also decided to go, but as a surprise to our in-laws. We were able to book 3 balconies on deck 10, one on deck 9, and another one on deck 8. My sister and cousin also tried to join after we made the final payment, but the cruise was almost sold out and they were only offered interior cabins at a very high price.

As far as travel, the two of us are flying Friday morning to San Juan, departing from DCA with a stop in ATL. We will have the afternoon to explore a bit, since last time we flew the day of and departed after the cruise. Family will arrive late friday night.

Following along. Enjoy your cruise.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

following

Following as DW and I will be boarding FOTS when you return. Please leave plenty of Bud Light, Bacardi Rum and White Wine on board for us when you get off!!! :)

Following as we will be traveling on this cruise also. Still debating on doing a review as well

Following...thinking of booking this cruise next year. Thanks for sharing!

Following. Would love to see the cruise compasses.

Following! Look forward to your review. Been on Freedom before as well as sailed out of San Juan several times.

Looking forward to reading your real time review, as I have clients/friends on this sailing as well, so I'd like to know how weather is, activities and if the ship is as great as when we last sailed her.

can't wait to hear all about it. We're sailing on Freedom for the third time this Oct. Love the ship

Could you say when approximately you booked and whether the price for a balcony went up or down since? Also when did you book your air and how did the price compare to flying to Florida?

Thanks!

Following! I sailed on Freedom at the end of March and loved it, can’t wait to hear your perspective! Have a great cruise!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

following

Following. Have fun.

Following as DW and I will be boarding FOTS when you return. Please leave plenty of Bud Light, Bacardi Rum and White Wine on board for us when you get off!!! :)

Can’t promise anything but will try my best :)

Looking forward to reading your real time review, as I have clients/friends on this sailing as well, so I'd like to know how weather is, activities and if the ship is as great as when we last sailed her.

I didn’t think about the weather but will make sure I add a little blurb about the weather every day.

Could you say when approximately you booked and whether the price for a balcony went up or down since? Also when did you book your air and how did the price compare to flying to Florida?

 

Thanks!

Booked at the beginning of February, prices just kept going up and by the end of April no balconies were left, not even GTY.

I booked air at the beginning of April but didn’t do any price comparison. For the two of us going from DC to San Juan, it made more sense to book with the airlines we have frequent flyer status due to all benefits we receive (extra luggage, priority, first class upgrades, etc).

Many weekend trips to Miami / Ft. Lauderdale I’ve made this year, have been more expensive than what we paid for the ticket to San Juan.

Following as we will be traveling on this cruise also. Still debating on doing a review as well

You definitely should!

Following! I sailed on Freedom at the end of March and loved it, can’t wait to hear your perspective! Have a great cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Following. Have fun.

can't wait to hear all about it. We're sailing on Freedom for the third time this Oct. Love the ship

following

Following! Look forward to your review. Been on Freedom before as well as sailed out of San Juan several times.

Following. Would love to see the cruise compasses.

following

Following...thinking of booking this cruise next year. Thanks for sharing!

Following along. Enjoy your cruise.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

Thanks Everyone!

Following... we will be on FOS August 4-11

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Good Morning from Reagan National Airport! Typical Friday morning here with the usual long lines and ultra slow security. Weather is really nice here, but I don’t think it beats San Juan.

We will be flying through Atlanta and arriving around 3 PM is everything goes fine.

Uneventful layover in Atlanta. Flight departed a bit delayed due to late crew, but we should be arriving close to the original arrival time. In the meantime, Margaritas are flowing from the galley to my seat.

We made it to San Juan on time! Baggage claim with no wait and a taxi ready to take us to our hotel in Miramar.

Temperature in San Juan: 30 C / 87 F and 324.435% Humidity

Nice weather in San Juan, not so humid after all. Strolled around Old San Juan and then had dinner in Condado. The rest of the family is delayed, arriving at 1 am.

Cruise day is finally here!

We left our hotel at 9:00 AM and went to Old San Juan for breakfast at Cortes Choco Bar, one of our favorite places in OSJ. The place was crowded but we managed to find space for 11. Breakfast was delicious as always and the service outstanding.

After breakfast we went CVS to get some bottles of wine and then back to the hotel to pick our bags.

We were in the port at 1:00 pm, quick baggage drop off and security, and long wait for check in. We boarded around 2:00 pm. Rooms were ready so we dropped our carry on luggage and had lunch at the Windjammer. I was expecting it to be more crowded but it was fine.

After having lunch, we did an intensive ship exploration excursion, to get the group familiarized with all the different areas, and then waited for the muster drill.

Overall, the ship has a really good vibe, and we are looking forward to have a great time. Dinner is at 9:00 pm tonight since the sail away is at 8:30 pm.

Technical issues didn’t allow me to continue the semi-live throughout the journey, but now that I am back in land, I will continue to post a full review.

Technical issues didn’t allow me to continue the semi-live throughout the journey, but now that I am back in land, I will continue to post a full review.

Glad to see you made it back safe. Hope you had a good time. Really looking forward to hearing about the Freedom and what it has to offer.